Libyans Begin Taking Sides After General Wages Attacks

TRIPOLI, Libya — Towns, tribes and armed groups across Libya chose sides on Monday in response to a renegade general’s assault on the country’s Islamist militias and lawmakers.

The general, Khalifa Heftar, has threatened to start something like a coup or even a civil war, though it is far from clear he has the power to do so. He has faulted the large Islamist blocs in the transitional Parliament for ineffectiveness and accused them of condoning the militias.

In an apparent concession aimed at averting conflict, the interim government on Monday proposed selecting a new prime minister and suspending Parliament until the next election, which has not yet been scheduled. But it was unclear how Parliament might respond, and the proposal did not appear to have much chance of defusing the standoff.

Mr. Heftar, 71, is a retired army officer who turned against Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi decades ago and spent years in the United States, where he reportedly collaborated with the C.I.A. on a failed plot to oust Colonel Qaddafi. He returned to Libya to join the uprising in 2011.

His new insurgency, begun on Friday, has struck a chord with Libyans weary of their impotent Parliament and fractious militias, especially in the eastern city of Benghazi, where Islamist militants have waged a guerrilla campaign of assassinations and bombings against the police and the security forces.

In Benghazi, more than 70 people have been killed and hundreds wounded in fighting since Friday between Mr. Heftar’s forces and local militias. And in Tripoli, loosely allied anti-Islamist militiamen also attacked Parliament over the weekend — something that is not uncommon here. Two were killed.

Each side in the battle has claimed to be the legitimate defenders of the weak Libyan state; Mr. Heftar grandly calls his band “the Libyan National Army.” Each side has insisted its opponents are little more than criminal gangs. And disparate factions formed out of defected military units, local and tribal militias, and ideological groups are lining up on one side or the other.

The latest to pick sides was Wanis Bukhamada, the commander of the largest former military unit in Benghazi. Mr. Bukhamada, who led a unit that turned against Colonel Qaddafi at the start of the revolt, has been locked in a low-grade guerrilla war with Islamist militants in Benghazi for months.

Mr. Bukhamada said Monday that he stood with Mr. Heftar’s Libyan National Army. But he seemed to be joining a fight against a common enemy, not pledging support for Mr. Heftar.

“The battle continues until the elimination of terrorism,” Mr. Bukhamada said in a televised statement. Referring to the Islamists, he added, “The choice is clear: It’s either us or them.”

Mr. Heftar appears to have similar enemy-of-my-enemy support from Tripoli militias tied to the western city of Zintan, as well as a regional militia that has blocked a major oil port near Benghazi.

Against him are the Parliament and the interim government, various Islamist militias and the formidable militia groups from the mid-coastal city of Misurata. Often suspected of forming tactical alliances with more moderate Islamists, the Misuratans also have a longstanding tribal rivalry with Zintan.

The streets of the capital were tense but quiet on Monday, until loud explosions shook the city just before midnight and stirred fears of a new confrontation.

Correction:May 20, 2014

An earlier version of this article misstated Khalifa Heftar’s age. He is 71, not 65.

Suliman Ali Zway reported from Tripoli, and David D. Kirkpatrick from Cairo.

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page A4 of the New York edition with the headline: Libyans Begin Taking Sides After General Wages Attacks. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe